


Ordinary People

by ailaikannu



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Bisexual Kara Danvers, F/F, Lena Luthor & Maggie Sawyer Friendship, Protective Lena Luthor, SuperCorp, Supercorp endgame, supercorp au, superhuman abilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-03-25 07:47:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13829682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailaikannu/pseuds/ailaikannu
Summary: Kara and Lena both live in an utopian society, were people are made in vitro to have superhuman abilities. 134 years of people born with superpowers, and two girls with no powers at all. Their fates come together when the both of them are found to be ordinary, in a world of extraordinary people.ORYou wake up, walk to the testing centre, get tested, wait for the results, go back home with a piece of paper that says that you’re superhuman, that you are law-abiding. The piece of paper also tells you where you’re supposed to go for training and what kind of job you can expect for yourself.





	1. Don't Be Afraid

**Author's Note:**

> So I had this idea?   
> I hope it works out.  
> Picture this: Kara and Lena, both living in a society where people have superhuman abilities. A society were people are born to do great things, and ordinary people are seen like something of the past. 134 years of superhumans and then, out of the blue, two people who have no abilities.

I still remember my Judgment Day.

Technically, it was my eighteenth birthday, but people called it _Judgment_ _Day_.

I had to be tested for _abilities_ , which is how superhuman traits are defined in my community, _Perfectia_. It is a simple process, one everyone has to go through once they turn eighteen. You wake up, walk to the testing centre, get tested, wait for the results, go back home with a piece of paper that says that you’re superhuman, that you are law-abiding. The piece of paper also tells you where you’re supposed to go for training and what kind of job you can expect for yourself.

How do we get abilities, you ask?

It’s pretty simple.

We live in what is called a utopian society. I see it more as a dystopian society, but that’s simply my opinion and it doesn’t really matter.

_Anyways_.

Children are made in vitro, not in the usual penis in the vagina kind of way. Well, I’d better say that children are engineered in vitro, genetically modified to have superhuman abilities and to create a better world.

Our community is meant to be perfect, with humans engineered to be physically flawless. What wasn’t taken in account when the three founders created Perfectia is that these superhuman abilities sometimes can ruin people, make them evil, turn their lives upside down.

I’ve spent the past eight months in a cell. Eight months. Why?

Well, because my Judgment Day didn’t exactly go to plan. If you’re expecting me to have exceptionally powerful abilities, you’re reading the wrong story.

They expected great things from me, the same way you probably expect me to be some kind of superhero. They cheered for me, my genetic background was perfect, my parents two flawless humans, with a family tree that made everyone else jealous.

They tested me twice, because what they saw was unbelievable.

I felt sick for ninety percent of my tests.

I knew what was happening.

I wasn’t showing signs of any kind of superhuman ability.

I was empty. Nothing. I couldn’t fly. No super-strength. Couldn’t read minds. Didn’t see the future. Weren’t exceptionally intelligent. Couldn’t run like a Ferrari. No heat-vision. Couldn’t move objects with my mind.

_Nothing_.

Absolutely nothing.

My ability was to be ordinary, in a world of extraordinary people.

I wasn’t sent home. I wasn’t given a piece of paper with my training sessions and the perfect job. I was held in a cell.

_“We don’t know what to do.”_

I might have heard this sentence a thousand times. Together with _“it’s never happened before”_.

It’s the first time that I’m actually outside after eight months of basically solitary confinement.

Because, apparently, somebody else is being too ordinary.

They’re taking me to the testing centre, which happens to be a few miles away from my lovely white cell. Walking around feels nice, even if I know that I’m going to meet someone who’s destined to the same fate as me.

Lonely, endless days in a white cell.

“So, you’re telling me that in a hundred and thirty-four years we’ve never had anyone like _this_.” I hear Mr. Odds say. “And now we have two in the span of eight months. Zero in a hundred and thirty-four years and two in eight months.”

“That’s correct.” A voice says. “I know you’re already mad, but I think that knowing the identities of these two is going to make you feel even worse.”

“One is Kara Danvers.” Mr. Odds says. “And that’s bad enough. What about the second one?”

“It’s Lena Luthor.”

I can hear Mr. Odds gasping loudly. “Lena Luthor!”

The second voice whispers something I can’t quite hear and then Mr. Odds starts cursing in exceptionally colourful ways.

I never expected the other ordinary person to be Lena Luthor.

Lena Luthor isn’t a joke.

She isn’t someone you would intentionally cross paths with.

She is scary and everyone is rightfully afraid of her. You should see her, and you'd understand what I'm talking about.

I can see why Mr. Odds is basically feeling sick.

Lena and I were both seen as the future of Perfectia.

Because of our heritage, I was meant to be the leader of our community, while Lena was supposed to make huge advancements in our science department.

We were both engineered to do great things, and we both failed.

We’re both ordinary.

That must hurt.

My mother was the leader of Perfectia until the day she died. I was twelve when it happened and I am grateful that she didn’t see how I failed my Judgment Day test. Her vice-leader became our leader when she died and I was meant to take his place once I was ready. That'd be Mr. Odds, the man who almost died upon finding out that both Lena and I failed our tests.

Too bad I’ll never be ready, because I am ordinary.

Lena’s father was the leader of the science department, he was the one to perfect the child engineering process, making it easier and more precise. He died too, I think Lena was fifteen when it happened, and her mother took his place, together with her brother.

After a while, I’m taken to where Lena is waiting.

She looks… Well, not what I expected.

I was crushed when I realized that I had no abilities. She looks… Unbothered.

“Hi.”

She looks at me. “Hello.”

I’ve never actually talked to her. Like, never in my life. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” She says. “I’m so glad I’ve given the people one more thing to talk about. As if they weren’t talking about me enough.”

I find myself walking closer to her. I have to admit that she does look scary, even if she’s somewhat shorter than I am. I bet it’s the dark hair and those intense eyes. “It’s not your fault.”

“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself for the past eight months?” She asks, one eyebrow raised.

“No, not really.” I shrug. “I do feel bad, but I also do know that it’s not my fault. We were engineered, Lena. We didn’t make ourselves.”

“I can’t argue with that.” She says, a small smile playing on her lips. “What are they going to do with us?”

“I’ve spent the past eight months in a cell.” I tell her. “There’s no place for us in Perfectia, but you know we condone killing.”

“I do know that, thanks.” She says, her voice cold. “I’m not my brother.”

“It’s not what I meant.” I quickly say. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She whispers. “Nothing an ordinary person can’t take.”

I can’t help but think that Lena’s nothing but ordinary.


	2. Outside

“Why do you think they took you here?” She asks after a while.

I shrug. “No idea.”

She goes back to her silent world for a moment and then resumes her staring. “You said you were held in a cell for eight months.”

“That’s correct.”

“So, like… Were you allowed to go outside?”

 _Outside_.

That’s a word we don’t use too much here in Perfectia. The reason is pretty simple, there’s no outside here.

Perfectia is meant to be a perfect world. The community is enclosed in a sort of bubble, which means that we’re not exposed to sun rays and air. We live in our own environment, to protect us from the ruins of what was once known as planet Earth.

When Lena says outside, she means in our gardens, and not inside the buildings. She's not talking about actually going outside, there's nothing outside the bubble.

“No.” I tell her. “I was only allowed to be in my cell for most of the time, and I had like a couple of hours to walk around. Still in the prison building.”

Her eyes darken for a second. “That’s awful. I’m sorry, Kara.”

Until children turn eighteen, they have classes every day. General classes that teach them skills that are deemed _fundamental_ to be flawless.

Among mandatory classes we have:

Reading.

Writing.

Calculus.

Grooming.

Public speeches.

Then we have classes that are mandatory, but offer children a choice.

Physical activities.

Arts.

Ancient languages.

Music.

Cooking.

Once they turn eighteen they have their Judgment Day, which is basically a day of tests to understand what kind of abilities one might have.

After Judgment Day, people are considered adults, and divided in categories that determine the kind of job one can have.

Most people want to be healers, security guards or part of the leadership.

“It’s not your fault.” I tell her. “Plus, I’m afraid this is our life now.”

“There has to be something more. Something that goes beyond those damn superhuman categories.”

“I think they’re afraid.” I whisper. “You know… People used to be like us before Perfectia was born.”

“I know.” She says. “And I also know that there actually is a world that goes beyond Perfectia. A world made for people like _us_.”

“Ordinary people?”

“We’re not ordinary, Kara.” She says. “Not in this world. We are the ones who are extraordinary.”

“What’s this world you’re talking about?” I ask her, now feeling curious.

She looks at me for a moment. It almost feels like she's...

“Why are you lying?” I suddenly ask her.

“I am not lying, Kara. There’s a world out there. A world where…-”

“No, not about this.” I cut her off. “You were _scanning_ me.”

“I was what now?” She almost looks offended.

“You were scanning me. I’d recognize that expression anywhere…”

She sighs. “You’re crazy.”

“I’m not crazy and you’re not ordinary.” I repeat. “Why are you lying?”

And she does it again.

“Stop scanning me!”

“Stop bloody yelling!” She hisses.

I’m taken aback by her reaction. “I’m sorry.”

“No, please, forget what you just saw.”

“How am I supposed to forget?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Your Judgment Day became sort of famous among our people, for obvious reasons. They didn’t tell us what they had done to you, we only knew that you weren’t coming back. I… I thought they’d let you out.”

“What?”

“You know I told you that there’s a world outside Perfectia.” She whispers. “You can’t tell me that you thought this was everything there is.”

“Well, it always seemed a bit odd, but…”

“That’s what we’ve been told, I know.” She sighs again. “The world was destroyed one hundred and thirty-four years ago and the three founders survived in a bunker and then created Perfectia. Except that the world wasn’t destroyed.”

“Okay, okay.” I find myself taking long breaths. “So you thought they’d let me out.”

She nods. “I can’t stay in Perfectia and I thought…”

“You thought if you lied you’d be let out too.” I tell her and she nods again. “But… Shouldn’t they be able to see your powers even if you don’t use them?”

“My powers started showing when I was nine.” She explains. “They’re supposed to be inactive until you’re given the serum, but mine are… Stronger, I’d say.”

“So you managed to hide them from the tests.”

“I did.”

“That’s impressive.”

She blushes a little and smiles at me. “So… How did you hide _your_ powers?”


	3. Extraordinary

“WHAT?” I gasp. “I did not hide my powers. I’m ordinary, Lena.”

She looks like she’s about to burst out laughing. “I can read minds, Kara.”

Ah, right.

“I forgot about that.”

“How did you hide them?” She asks again. “And why?”

“It’s… Complicated.”

This time she does laugh at me. “Too bad you thought about it.”

_“What are you doing?”_

_“Nothing, I… Uh…”_

_“Kara, you’re using your powers.”_

_“I am not!”_

_“I can see them. Don’t lie to me.”_

_“I… I don’t know how it happened.”_

_“Kara, you can’t tell anyone.”_

_“But, mum… I can’t hide my powers forever! I’ll be an outcast! They’ll see me as an ordinary person!”_

_“Would you rather be ordinary or dead, my dear?”_

_“Ordinary, I guess.”_

_“Then hide. Hide forever. Be ordinary.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because… This has never happened before. The powers you have are… Extraordinary.”_

_“I thought behind extraordinary was the whole point.”_

_“You’re more than that. You’d be seen as too powerful, you’d be feared, seen as someone that might turn evil.”_

_“What are they going to do to me if I lie?”_

_“I don’t know, Kara. I only know that you’ll be safe. They won’t kill you just because you appear to have no powers.”_

_“What if they find out?”_

_“You need to be careful. Do not use your powers, live your life thinking that you don’t have them, they might eventually disappear. I’ll train you to hide them.”_

Lena is looking at me with curiosity. “Your mother thought they’d leave you be if they thought you were ordinary.”

“She did.” I tell her. “But she was wrong.”

“What kind of powers do you have?”

“It’s… Difficult to explain. I was pretty young when they started showing, I think I had them as a baby and my mother just tried hiding them in some ways…” I whisper. “I reckon she believed I could actually stop having them if I didn’t use them, but… She was wrong on that matter as well. My powers are different from what we normally get here. And I think yours are different as well.”

“But you said that you knew someone who does what I do.”

“Yes, my mother could scan minds.” I tell her. “But I still think your ability is more powerful.”

She takes a deep breath before nodding. “As you know well enough, we’re engineered to have abilities, but our powers are supposed to be controlled. Some powers appear to be more useful than others, but nobody’s supposed to be stronger. When embryos are engineered, they’re injected with every superhuman ability we have in our labs, but only one is meant to actually work. It all depends on what kind of DNA the embryo has.”

“Yes, that’s why my mother told me to hide. Because, apparently, too many abilities worked on my DNA.” I tell her.

“The same happened to me.” She says. “I reckon for you it’s more on physical abilities, for me it’s more intellectual. Like, normally speaking, scanners can read minds and that’s about it. My scanning is… Deeper. I can read minds, yes, but I can see memories as well. I can scan feelings and ideas. I can see dreams.”

“That must be deafening.”

She smiles at me. “I can sort of turn it off.”

“How does that work?”

“I don’t really know. But I am not always listening to other people’s minds, and I try to keep out of memories and dreams when I can.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” I tell her. “Memories and dreams can both be… Pretty weird, I’d say.”

“You tell me.”


	4. In Your Head

We were brought back to the cell that we’re apparently sharing and they promised they’ll let us know what our future holds.

I find myself being sceptical at that last bit.

They left me in here for eight months and never answered when I asked what their plans were.

“What should we do?”

I really don’t know. “I have no idea.”

“I honestly believe your sister is our only chance, Kara.”

“My sister?”

Lena nods. “She’s the only one who can get us out of here.”

“They might release us.”

“They haven’t released you in eight months, what makes you think that me being here will change their minds?”

I was hoping she wouldn't ask. “Do you want me to be honest?”

She nods again.

“I believe they might be scared of your family.”

Her eyes darken a bit. “Right.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine, I know it’s the truth. Still, I don’t think my mother would be interfering with my freedom. She doesn’t care.” Lena says. “And that’s why your sister is our only option.”

I feel like I should fight her on this, but I'm scared I might hurt her. Or she might hurt _me_. “But we can’t communicate with her and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that we’re here.”

“What if we could communicate with her?”

“How? Do you have a phone hidden somewhere?” I ask her.

“I do not.” She says, shaking her head. “But I can read minds.”

“ _You_ can, my sister cannot.”

She looks at me for a moment. “I believe I can project my thoughts into other people’s minds.”

I’m afraid Lena’s going mental. “You what now?”

Lena shrugs. “I said I believe I can! I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it before.”

"You've never tried it before." I repeat. "And how do you plan on doing it now, then?"

"Well, we both know that the prison building is right next to the sports center."

Sure, we _both_ know that.

"And your sister spends _a lot_ of time there, which means that she can get sort of close to us. I simply have to try and find a way to make it work."

Before I can think about what to say, we’re interrupted by Mr. Odd.

“Kara.” He says, a huge smile on his face. “Please come with me.”

I can’t believe that this moment finally came. He’s either going to kill me, or let me go.

For eight months, I was held in the dark. They didn’t know what to do with me and decided to simply lock me in a cell and leave me there.

I wonder how they survived my sister.

“We’re sorry this took so long, but your case is exceptional and we had no idea how to deal with it.”Mr. Odd says. “We tried to keep you as comfortable as possible, but we know there’s no way to make you understand how sorry we are that you missed eight months of your life because of us.”

“That’s fine.” I tell him. I need to know what’s going to happen to me.

“We need to run some more tests on you tomorrow and then we’ll let you go back to the others.”

I can’t believe this. “Thank you!”

He smiles at me and I can tell he’s happy that I didn’t get angry.

“What about Lena?”

“We’ll be doing the same with her. Final tests and then she’ll be back, just like you.”

And that’s exactly what happens. They test me in the early morning and Lena right after I’m done. They let me wait for her and then we’re taken to the end of the prison building that leads directly to the sports centre. From there, we walk together to my neighbourhood.

“You don’t look happy.” I tell her as we slowly walk to my house. “We’re free.”

Lena stays silent and just looks at me.

Is she scanning me?

“Are you…” She doesn’t let me finish the sentence and puts a hand to my mouth.

“Is your sister home?” She asks the moment we get to my house.

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Can I come in?” She asks and I can feel an urge in her voice. She looks like she needs to tell me something and is afraid to be heard.

“Sure.”

Once we walk inside, she stops in front of me and stares at me in the eye.

“What’s happening?”

“Just shut up and wait. It’ll happen.”

And then she’s talking, but I don’t see her mouth moving.

_“Kara, can you hear me?”_

“Yes.”

_“Right, you can simply think about it, okay? I’m in your head.”_

“You what?!”

_“In you head, Kara! Listen carefuly and think about your answers, do not say them out loud. I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t necessary.”_

I nod my head.

_“They didn’t run tests on us this morning, they implanted us both with microphones. I think we’re in danger.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

She’s the one nodding this time.

_“What do we do?”_

_“I don’t know. We have to talk like this whenever the subject is powers or them.”_

_“Alright. Do you think they’re going to hurt us?”_

_“I think so, yes.”_

_“Okay, cool. Cool. Do you think you can do this all the time?”_

_“I don’t know, it’s the first time I’ve actually tried it. I’m not too confident about doing it when there’s other people around. Not yet.”_

_“Makes sense. I guess we’ll have to work on it.”_

_“I’ll work on it.”_

_“I’ll help you.”_

She smiles at me and it gives me a really weird feeling.

 


	5. She's Smart

“What does your sister do?” She asks, after a while.

Her voice is slightly different “in person” and I’m not sure why. I look at her for a moment, sort of scared to answer out loud. She smiles at me and nods her head ever so slightly.

“She’s in the police force.” I tell her. “They said she was equally good in science and strength work, so they let her choose between doctor and working with the police.”

“Ah, yes.” She nods. “I remember her, she is in my brother’s year.”

“Was she? I thought your brother was much older.”

“Well, he is twenty-two, I wouldn’t say he is ancient, but older than us, yes.”

“You’re younger than me, though.”

“I am, yes.” She nods again. “I’d love to meet your sister, when does her shift end?”

I think I’m finally starting to understand what Lena actually means just by looking at her eyes. “She normally gets home at around six, I’m sure she’ll be happy to meet you.”

She smiles graciously at me. “What about your mother?”

“She doesn’t live with us anymore.” I tell her. “My sister and I wanted to move to this part of Perfectia, while she preferred living close to the hospital.”

“Makes sense.” She says, smiling. I realize now that she doesn’t really care, she simply wanted to know if we’re going to be disturbed.

“I’m not sure I know in which part of Perfectia you live in.”

“I believe my house is pretty close to your mother’s. As you know, nobody really wants to live close to us, but the science department is right next to the hospital.” She explains. “I actually plan on moving down here, I was waiting for my eighteenth birthday to do it, so I guess you’ll be helping me find a new home.”

We start talking about houses and neighbourhoods in this part of Perfectia and we don’t realize that time is passing and, soon enough, my sister is home from work and looks surprised to see me.

I wonder why, considering that I’ve been missing for eight months.

I’ll tell you this:

She unlocked the door and screamed the moment she saw me and she jumped in my arms with such force, that we both almost fell to the floor.

“Kara! Where were you? I was so worried! I was scared they’d…”

And I am the one putting my hand on her mouth for once. She stops for a moment and realizes that Lena is awkwardly standing next to us.

“Is this Lena Luthor? In our house?”

Lena’s eyes darken as she nods her head.

“Alex…”

“What? Oh! No! I didn’t mean it in a bad way!” Alex quickly says. “I’m a fan. You’re young, but so smart.”

“A fan? A Luthor fan?”

“I didn’t say that!” Alex replies. “Yours, yes.”

“Still a Luthor.”

“With a sister like mine, I learned pretty young not to believe what other people say.”

Lena looks positively relieved.

And I sort of feel the same.

“Lena and I need to talk to you.”

My sister is now sporting a huge grin on her face. “If you tell me that you’re dating Lena Luthor, I’m going to die. Here, on the spot.”

I open my mouth to deny this weird idea my sister has, but Lena raises her hand and stops me.

“Yes, that’s exactly what we came here to tell you.”

We what now?

My sister’s grin grows even more, but I stop her from saying anything more and nod towards Lena.

Lena freezes for a moment.

_“Can you both hear me?”_

_“Yes.”_

“What the fuck is happening?!”

 _“In your head, Alex. In your head.”_ I hear Lena saying _. “I can read minds.”_

My sister opens her mouth to reply, but decides against it and simply nods.

_“Alright, apparently I can talk to the both of you at the same time, so that’s nice.”_

_“Again, what the fuck?!”_

Was that my sister? _“Why can I hear her?”_

 _“Well, I’m assuming my mind is a lot more powerful than expected.”_ Lena says.

_“Can someone please explain what the fuck is going on?”_

Lena laughs out loud before nodding. _“So, short version. I’m assuming you know about your sister powers.”_

My sister nods.

_“Good. Let’s say I have the same issue, while her powers are more on the physical side, so she’s like an actual superhero, mine are more on the mental side. I can read minds, apparently connect other people’s minds, see dreams and memories and so on so forth.”_

The look of disbelief in my sister’s eyes is hilarious.

_“Basically, we were both tested for powers, but decided to hide them. We both thought we’d be executed or worse if they found out that we have more than one ability. They let us out this morning, but I know they implanted us both with microphones to see if we’re hiding something. And we are, thus the mind communicating.”_

_“I see.”_

_“We think they’ll kill us if they find out, and we need your help to find a way to avoid dying.”_

_“What’s your plan?”_

_“At the moment? Nothing.”_

_“You think they can hear everything you say, so I’d avoid talking about powers and whatnot. They did hear you say that you’re dating, so I guess you’ll have to pretend that you actually are. Nothing too weird, I’d go with holding hands in public and that should be enough.”_

And now Lena’s expression is priceless.

 _“You two being together at all times might be a bit suspicious, even more so considering that they think that you’re hiding something.”_ My sister explains. _“If they think that you two are together, it’ll make sense.”_

Lena nods and looks at me for approval.

Well, I’m not opposed to it _. “Makes sense to me.”_

_“And we definitely need to extract those microphones.”_

We what now?


	6. They Know

Lena found a house.

It’s pretty close to where Alex and I live, and has a small garden where Lena plans on planting a cherry tree.

She’s weird.

We’ve been released five weeks ago and we’ve spent our time pretending to be together and arguing about taking the transmitters out.

We can’t, because if we do, they’ll find out that we’re hiding something and they’ll kills us.

And, honestly? I don’t want to die.

Not yet.

Not in the near future either.

My sister and Lena became great friends in such a short time, it’s almost painful to watch. Why? Well, because they spend most of their time making fun of me and I am tired of it.

Lena and I are together at her place when an officer comes to see us. I’m scared, afraid they might kill us. I think they heard us, they somehow managed to enter Lena’s mind and listen to us.

Turns out they want us to re-take the test.

Lena tells me to fake my powers.

I panic, but do as told.

It looks like Lena’s been thinking a lot about what to do and how to avoid cutting out the transmitters.

Faking my powers means that I’m choosing to expose only one of them, which happens to be super strength.

Mr. Odds looks pleased at my results. “I was afraid we’d have to terminate you.”

Well, that’s nice. “I guess my powers were a bit late.”

“Thankfully, yes.” He smiles at me. “You’ll be assigned a job soon enough, and then your life will finally go back to normal.”

I feel grateful, this nightmare is over and I can’t wait to see Lena and celebrate with her.

This, of course, if she managed to fake her powers as well.

My question is answered soon enough, when I see Lena walking out of the testing facility with a grin on her face, while talking to Mr. Odds.

We are sitting together while waiting to be called back in when she closes her eyes.

_“They know.”_

Of course happiness couldn’t last too long. “ _How_?”

_“They know. They will kill us, Kara.”_

_“Why?”_

_“They can’t just murder us in there. They’ll give us a job and introduce us to adulthood, and then they’ll find a way to kill the both of us.”_

_“Maybe you’re being dramatic.”_

_“You’ll change your mind once you’re bleeding out and can’t breathe anymore.”_

Well, that's just great. I am really enjoying being alive right now.

_“I trust you. What do we do?”_

_“I don’t know yet. We have to accept our jobs and start training.”_

So I got to be happy for a total of approximatively five seconds, that’s just great. She grabs my hand before walking back to the facility and I feel weird for a moment before I remember that we’re meant to be a couple.

Sometimes I forget about it.

Of course Lena doesn’t and she’s always holding my hand when we’re in public. I think she got used to it because, sometimes, she does it when we’re alone as well.

It feels nice.

Mr. Odds smiles at us as we let one another go and walk to two different rooms.

We’re about to find out what jobs they have chosen for us.

I don’t even know why I feel worried about it. I did chose what kind of ability to show them, so I am most likely getting some kind of law enforcement job.

I didn’t ask Lena what she showed, but I’m supposing she chose mind reading. We’ll see.

It’s my turn first.

I have Mr. Odd sitting in front of me, together with the testing director, I can’t remember her name. They look happy, satisfied.

They both smile at me.

“We were very pleased with your test results today.” Mr. Odds begins. “We’ve never had anyone show powers later than their birthday, but we never really tried, so we can’t really know.”

The testing director smiles and nods. “You appear to have enhanced strength, which means that you follow your family’s scheme. Your father had enhanced speed, your mother has enhanced vision and your sister has enhanced senses.”

“I didn’t realize it followed a path.” I tell her.

“Sometimes it does.” She tells me. “Some families are meant to be powerful, do you understand?”

I nod. “Like us and the Luthors.”

“Exactly.” She nods again. “We all have different roles in our society, Kara. You were lucky enough to be born in a family that matters.”

“I see.”

“We have a few propositions for you for what concerns your career.” Mr. Odds says. “Normally, super strength means police work, but we’d like you to consider the position of assistant training director.”

“Why?”

“Because you know what the future holds for you, Kara.” Mr. Odds comments. “You need a position of power to become ruler of Perfectia.”

“Who says I want to be a ruler?”

“It’s what you’re meant to become.”

“What about my sister?”

“We encouraged her to follow a path that might bring her to that position one day, and we’re doing the same for you.” He explains. “Both of you need to be prepared.”

I look at him for a moment. “I’ll take the position of assistant training director.”

He smiles brightly at me. “Good choice. You start training tomorrow morning at 9.”

We say goodbye and I walk out of the facility, waiting for Lena to get back. With what she told me earlier about them knowing the truth about us, I can’t help but feel like I chose the right job. It’ll give me some sort of insight.

Lena gets back after about fifteen minutes and she looks satisfied and terrified at the same time. She’s almost running towards me and I’m afraid to know what they told her.

_“I’m going to kiss you now, don’t freak out.”_

What do you mean don’t freak out? Oh my God.

She kisses me.

She kisses me and I feel like she’s done this a thousand times before.

Her lips touch mine and I feel like I’ve never kissed anyone before and every single moment of my life led me to this second.

I’m screwed.


	7. Come Back to Me

I woke up early this morning and I’m walking to Lena’s house. She opens the door a moment after I ring the bell, looking like she hasn’t slept all night. She kisses me, and I am still not used to the feeling.

“Hello, darling.”

I’m really screwed.

She invites me in, and offers me a cup of coffee. “I don’t drink coffee, you should know that.”

“I guess I’ll have two cups, then.” She says, smiling at me.

“When do you start?”

She takes a sip of coffee. “At nine.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll see you for lunch?” She asks.

I nod. “Of course.”

_“I’m scared.”_

_“Me too.”_ I reply _. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”_

She closes her eyes for a moment. _“I can’t live my life wondering if I’m going to get murdered.”_

_“We won’t get murdered.” I tell her, wondering if my thoughts can sound as assertive as I want them to be._

She looks sad for a second. _“I wish I was as sure as you are.”_

_“Trust me. They can’t kill us.”_

We’re talking via thoughts, but the majority of what we’re saying can be understood by the way we look at each other. We’re both scared to death but, while I try to hide it, Lena wants to share her fear. Maybe it makes her feel better. Maybe she wants me to know that I’m not alone. Maybe she wants to know that she’s not alone.

_“Maybe they’re waiting for us to be separated.”_

_“They would have murdered us in our sleep.”_

_“There’s cameras everywhere.”_

_“They know how to disable them.”_ I tell her. _“If they wanted to kills us, they’d do it when we’re together.”_

“We should leave, it’s almost eight thirty.” She says.

I nod and she finishes her coffee before washing up the two cups she used. Together, we walk outside and stand in front of each other for a while.

_“Please, come back to me tonight.”_

_I wish I could promise her we’ll be okay. I wish I could tell her I’ll see her for lunch and for dinner tonight. I wish I could tell her that nothing is going to happen to us and that they bought the lie that our powers showed up later than normal._

_“I’ll see you at lunch.”_

She nods and turns around to walk away. I watch her for a while before turning to the other side and taking a deep breath before walking to the training facility. _  
_ I’m slowly walking to the training centre, fearing more for Lena’s life rather than my own. She’s going to be in a science lab, which is full of dangerous items, a lot more than a training centre. I’m not even sure what my job is going to entail, all I know is that my future is to become training director and manage the training facility and all the people getting ready to start their new jobs after their judgement day.

The training centre looks huge under the sun, and I’m starting to feel scared. Mr. Odds is waiting for me by the entrance, looking giddy. I can’t get killed today. I can’t.

“Good morning, miss Danvers.” He says, smiling at me.

“Good morning, Mr. Odds.” I reply.

“Ready to start your day?” He asks.

I am definitely not ready. “Of course.”

Together, we walk inside the facility. I’ve never seen its inside, except for that one time when we came to visit it when I was still in Middle School. The facility looks even bigger on the inside, and I’m too fascinated by it to listen to what Mr. Odds is telling me.

He shows me the various rooms, and explains what happens in most of them.

“You’ll be working with Miss Grant, who’s now our training director.” He explains. “She can be moody sometimes, but she’s a great person overall.”

Well, that sounds promising.

I wonder if Miss Grant is the one who’s going to kill me.

Or is Mr. Odds doing the dirty work?

“I’m sure we’ll get on fine.” I tell him as we walk to her office.

The office is much bigger than I anticipated, with large windows and a lot of natural light. Miss Grant looks like she’s about about the age my mother would be if she were alive. The only difference is that she looks much angrier.

“You must be Kiera.” She says.

“Kara.” Off to a great start. “It’s nice meeting you.”

Mr. Odds says his goodbyes and leaves me in the hands of Miss Grant.

“I have never had an assistant.” She says. “I knew your parents, so I’ll give you a fair shot. After all, I know that you’ll be taking my place when I’m gone.”

If I won’t die before she retires.

“Even though I believe this is your training job before becoming our leader, correct?”

I nod. “It appears so.”

“Then I’ll help you with that.” She says.

“How?”

She pinches the bridge of her nose, looking annoyed. “People need to like you.”

“People already know me.”

She stares at me. “Which doesn’t mean that they like you.”

I’m never going to be the leader of Perfectia, but Miss Grant doesn’t know this. Lena is never going to lead our science department, but her supervisor doesn’t know that.

And it’s so terribly unfair.

They want to murder us for something that we can’t control. Something we have nothing to do with. We were born this way, and our government thinks that we’re somehow wrong.

 

 


	8. Protect Her

_“What do you mean when you say a test?”_

_“I mean I’ll have to test the both of us.”_ She tells me. _“So that I can prove that there’s nothing wrong with us, that we’re harmless. Maybe they won’t hurt us once they find out what happened to make us the way we are.”_

Lena and I met for dinner, as we had decided this morning. Our first few hours of work seem to have been fine, but she told me about this idea she has. She told me she was given a copy of the lab’s keys, and that we should go in tonight and test our blood to see what made us what we are.

_“What if they find out before we can get actual results?”_

_“We’re dying anyways, who cares.”_

Yes, who cares. Why do I care?

I nod my head, and watch her silently eat her burger. She looks excited, but terrified as well. Tonight, we’re breaking in the lab, and that should be enough to make the both of us scared to death. I guess she’s right, though, we’re dying anyways, might as well try and do something to stop them.

“Should we go on a stroll after dinner?” She asks.

I shrug. “Why not.”

Let’s hope they won’t be following us.

Walking to the lab feels like the weirdest thing I’ve ever done. She told me we should act like we were having sex in the lab if someone sees us, but I don’t see how that’s going to help. We easily get in, and then Lena takes me to the lab. She takes a blood sample for me, and does the same on herself.

I hate getting blood drawn, I wonder how she managed to do it on herself. She’s using a weird-looking machine to test it, and looks pretty into it. While she does her thing, I walk around. I try to stay next to where she is, but I wouldn’t want to disturb her.

“I see.” She says, after a while.

Curious, I walk towards where she’s sitting. “What?”

“I did yours first.” She says. “It looks like it was done on purpose.”

“How?”

She shrugs. “Mine looks kind of the same.”

“Is there a way to see who engineered us?”

She nods. “We have files, but I’m not sure where they’re kept. I’ve been here for one day. I’m ninety-eight percent sure that my father engineered me.”

“That would make sense.” I reply.

“He might be the one who engineered you, too.” She comments. “I think we were considered important since before we were born. It would make sense for him to have worked on the both of us.”

“Maybe he believed Perfectia needed people with more than one ability.”

There’s a deafening sound before I hear someone yell at us. Lena’s head snaps towards where the sound came from, and my eyes are already shining red.

“What are you doing here?” A voice calls out.

Before we can do anything, we see a group of armed security guards running towards us. It takes me one second to spot my sister among the crowd.

“Hands off the machine.” The same voice says.

Lena does as told, then slowly walks away from the machine.

“What’s going on?” The man asks, his gun still pointed at us.

_“Don’t say anything.”_

I’m silent.

“I’m asking a second time, what’s going on?”

_“Keep quiet.”_

I’m staring at the man.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll be forced to shoot.”

_“You have faster reflexes than him. He’s going to shoot his gun, you fly.”_

I swallow hard.

“Tell me what you’re doing here, now!”

_“Wait for him to shoot, then fly.”_

I take a deep breath, never taking my eyes off the man.

Everything happens in slow motion, and I guess I do have faster reflexes than most of these people. He pulls the trigger, and I can see the bullet flying towards me. With a slight jump, I’m up in the air. I can hear Lena taking a deep breath behind me, and the bullet hitting a machine.

A second man shoots, and the bullet hits me right in the stomach.

Guess who just found out about what being bulletproof feels like?

I’m not used to my powers, though. I’ve never really had the chance to test them, only having used my laser eyes to burn toast and flying secretly in my bedroom. I even tried to cool down a soda with my freeze breath, but I don’t really know how to control it.

_“I’ll protect your sister, you attack them, we have to leave before they can hurt us.”_

How is she going to protect my sister?

_“What? Can you reach her?”_

_“Trust me, Kara.”_

Before I can ask her about it, I see a blue see-through sphere forming around Alex. Of course, mental powers. Why didn’t I think of that?

What I don’t realize as I punch guards around and watch them pass out, is that Lena has never really tested her powers either. With her mind scanning, she can do it undetected. Powers like this one are pretty visible, and I’m assuming this is the first time she tries it on someone else.

I don’t think about this as laser beams shoot out of my eyes. I don’t think about this when a bullet goes past me and towards her.

Because Lena can create force fields. She can protect herself. She’s powerful. She’s never protected herself while protecting someone else, though. It’s too late when I realize that she’s not going to lift the force field off of Alex’s body and into hers. She’s going to let herself get shot.

And she does.

 


	9. Invisible String

Everything happens in slow motion.

I see the bullet rushing past me as I’m fighting.

I think about Lena and her ability to protect herself.

I look at Alex and see the force field around her, and realize.

I turn around in time to see the bullet hit Lena right in the left arm.

She goes down to the ground, and Alex’s force field immediately disappears. Lena is grunting in pain, but trying hard to get up.

_“Keep fighting!”_

Even her thoughts sound in pain.

_“Keep fighting and come and get me once they can’t fight us back anymore.”_

I walk closer to her, wanting to make sure that she’s okay. I use my x-ray vision to check her arm, but it doesn’t seem that bad.

_“I’ll be back.”_

She nods and I fly back up, always trying to watch her from a distance.

_“I’m okay, stop looking at me! I know you x-rayed my arm, I know you know it’s not bad.”_

A few minutes later, with only two more guards standing, I see Alex quietly making her way to where Lena is laying. It makes me feel a bit better.

I feel immensely better when I can go to her myself, though.

“I’m sorry, I thought you could project the force field on yourself as well.” I tell her.

“I can.” She says, casually. “I just wasn’t sure I could keep it on Alex and myself at the same time.”

She got hurt to protect my sister. Because she knew I could have hurt her, and never forgive myself for putting my own sister in danger.

She looks at me and nods.

Sometimes I forget that she can read minds.

“We have to go.” She whispers. “And I think we have to take Alex with us.”

“Where are we going, though? Perfectia is filled with cameras.”

She hesitates _. “I might have created a device that will make us invisible to them.”_

_“How?”_

_“Well, I needed your blood and mine before I could finish it, but now I have it.”_ She says. _“We’ll be invisible to Alex as well, when she’s not under its protection. It synthesizes a force field from our blood cells and makes us invisible to people who have an… Extraordinarily ordinary DNA.”_

I nod. _“So, everyone but you and I?”_

“Exactly.”

She’s a genius.

“I am, thank you very much.”

She’s only now responding to things I think about but never say out loud. She usually lets it go past her, almost as if she hadn’t heard what my thoughts were.

She activates the device before we walk out of the laboratory, and we have Alex test it before opening the doors.

She says she can’t see us, so we open the doors and walk out, freely.

We find a place to stay, on the outskirts of Perfectia, and Lena places the small device on the ground and opens her backpack to reveal a tent.

“I had a feeling something bad might happen tonight.” She says. “I got shot, for once.”

“Please tell me that you have some medical supplies in there as well.” Alex says.

She raises an eyebrow. “Do I look like an idiot? Of course I do. Before I forget, the force field around us is soundproof as well.”

Alex sighs happily and looks through what Lena shows her. She calls it her small first aid kit, but it honestly looks like a surgery kit. Alex has me use my x-ray vision to tell her where the bullet is, and seems satisfied when I tell her that it’s only a few inches deep. Lena looks like she’s meditating as she keeps her mind off the pain, and I’m not sure what she’s thinking about. Of course she had no anaesthetic in her kit, but she seemed convinced that she could keep the pain away with the power of her mind.

It seems to be working, because Alex extracts the bullet and she doesn’t even flinch.

Once we’re done, Alex says she needs to rest and goes to bed. Lena looks restless, and we sit on the grass right in front of the black tent.

“I’m sorry about reading your mind.” She whispers, after a while.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

“I normally don’t.” She continues. “I feel like it’s intruding one’s privacy.”

“What’s different with me? Am I more interesting?” I ask, smiling.

“Your thoughts are… So loud.” She comments.

“Is that a bad thing? How loud?”

She shrugs. “Almost as if I couldn’t stop them from flowing from your mind to mine. It’s never happened before.”

“It feels almost as if we were connected by some invisible string.” I whisper.

“You feel it, too?”

I nod. “I don’t think I need to read minds to feel it.”

“I’m afraid it’s love.” She whispers.

I look curiously at her. “Why are you afraid?”

“Because I know you feel the same.”

I’ve thought about it countless times. I haven’t known her for that long, but it feels like we’ve been next to each other for centuries. It might be the DNA, I’m not sure.

I don’t have to say anything else, she looks at me and simply knows.

She’s silent for a moment. “You know we have to leave, right?”

“I do.”

“I know it looked like they attacked us because we were in the lab, but we were attacked because of who we are.” She says. “They’ll find the guards soon and send out a broadcast and everyone is going to be looking for us.”

“What should we do?”

“We sleep here tonight. Tomorrow, with the device, we go looking for that opening. I’m sure there’s a way for us to get out of Perfectia.”

“But what if the world outside is actually dead, like they said?”

“Do you really believe what those people told us?”

Before I can reply, the news broadcast interrupts me, and I look up.

 **“Attention people of Perfectia, this is an emergency broadcast.”** The voice announces. **“Three criminals, going by the names of Alex Danvers, Kara Danvers, formerly Zor-El, and Lena Luthor have attacked several guards tonight after trying to destroy the science lab. If you see any of them, please report to the police.”**

 


	10. Maui

Lena sleeps only because she’s been hurt. I’m sure she would have spent the night looking at our surroundings, if she could have.

When she wakes up in the morning, the town is still asleep. Alex and I have been awake for quite a while, but let her rest because of her injuries.

“Breakfast?” She says, offering us some food.

We eat quietly, knowing well enough that today might be our last day alive, or the first day of the rest of our lives.

We’re getting out today, and we might find either a dead world, or what Lena imagines in her dreams. I’m honestly hoping for the latter.

We’re in the outskirts of Perfectia, which means that nobody ever comes down here. Lena asks me to scan the walls near us, to see if I can find some kind of opening. We’re not lucky on our first try, but it doesn’t take me too long to find a spot that looks like it might be the right one.  
 I pry it open with my hands, and I can hear Lena gasping next to me.

Perfectia isn’t what’s left of the world.

Perfectia is an island, in the middle of what looks like an ocean.

Miles and miles of water, fish swimming freely, clouds hanging in the sky.

Lena starts crying. _“I can’t believe we got out.”_

 _“The world is… Alive.”_ My sister whispers.

 _“I get to love you in the real world.”_ Lena thinks, and I know this is a thought she shared only with me.

I don’t have the time to reply, because she’s quickly by my side, grabbing my face with both hands.

Lena’s kissed me before, but this is on a whole, different level.

She’s careful, gentler, softer. Her lips feel like they belong on mine, I want to pull her impossibly closer to me.

My sister is cheering for us, knowing that this is real. The relationship we showed in Perfectia was fake, much like the world we were in.

We’re now in  the real world, with a real love to share.

Before I can think of anything to say, I’m up in the air. _“I’m going to look for another island, somewhere we can stay.”_

And I do.

I’m flying up in the air, feeling free.

Feeling the cold morning air on my skin, looking at various kinds of fish swimming around, watching the sun shining down on me, and the rest of the world.

It takes me a while to find a different island, but this one looks promising. A lot better than Perfectia. I fly back, finding Alex and Lena with their feet in the water.

 _“It feels so different.”_ Lena’s thoughts sound so happy today. I land on the ground next to her, and seal the opening with my eyes.

“I’ll carry you to the island.” I tell them, and they both look excited.

On my way back to the new island, I take my time. I let them enjoy the view, I let them feel the breeze on their skin, I let them touch the water with their hands.

They look happy.

I feel happy.

We’re out, we’re free, we’re safe.

We’ve never seen real clouds before, only pictures in books. We’ve never felt the warmth of the sun on our skin, only artificial heating. We’ve never seen the ocean, or large bodies of water whatsoever.

There’s other people in the island we chose, and they look curiously at us.

A man walks closer to us, and I can tell that he’s hesitant, maybe even scared.

“Good morning, visitors.” He says. “My name is J’onn J’onns, welcome to Maui.”


End file.
